Page 17 - Bulletin Fall 2024

Important Local Research
How Citizen Scientists Are Stepping Up to Challenge
Racial Disparities in Alzheimer’s Disease Research
Susan Steen, MD susanjsteen@gmail.com
Why is it that African Americans and Hispanic Americans are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s? Do you also want to know how local citizen scientists are accelerating Al- zheimer’s disease research?
African Americans and Hispanic Americans are vastly underrepre- sented in clinical research, face addi- tional challenges with getting a time- ly and accurate diagnosis, and may
generally lack access to possible treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. We know that needs to change. Change starts with diversifying research and simplifying an Alzheimer’s diag- nosis.
As a Neurologist and Principal Investigator at Axiom Brain Health, I am proud to dedicate my work to improv- ing health outcomes and reducing health disparities. I am also grateful for the volunteers at Axiom Brain Health on the front lines, acting as citizen scientists to advance research and help us change these statistics. Many recently partici- pated in the Bio-Hermes study — sponsored by the Global Alzheimer’s Platform Foundation®, (GAP) — which had groundbreaking results and included a record amount of di- verse participation in Alzheimer’s research.
The results of the Bio-Hermes study appear in Alzheim- er’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, showing how new Alzheimer’s detecting blood tests perform across a broad range of races and ethnicities for the first time.
Volunteers from Axiom Brain Health were part of the 1000+ community-based participants throughout the US who participated in Bio-Hermes. The study compared the results of blood and digital biomarkers with brain amyloid PET scans or cerebrospinal fluid assays. The study revealed a strong correlation between several blood tests, particularly p-tau 217, with the presence of amyloid plaques in the brain, a diagnostic hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. This relation- ship was demonstrated across the entire study population including the 24 percent of Bio-Hermes participants from African American, Latino, and other traditionally under-
represented communities, an unprecedented level of diver- sity. These findings will enhance the field’s ability to pro- vide a more economical, timely, and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease and speed enrollment into clinical trials.
Currently, a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease requires expensive scans or invasive spinal taps that are not acces- sible to all. With the recent approval of disease-modifying Alzheimer’s treatments, there is a growing need to simplify and accelerate an accurate diagnosis. In an effort to address the need to improve the diagnostic process, GAP convened a unique collaboration of leading biopharma, digital tech- nology, nonprofit partners, and seventeen clinical research sites from the GAP network (GAP-Net) around the United States to conduct Bio-Hermes. Axiom Brain Health is proud to have been one of the seventeen.
So, what is next?
Now we can build upon the success of Bio-Hermes know- ing the study has the potential to change future Alzheimer’s diagnostic testing and research. At Axiom Brain Health, we are now enrolling volunteers in Bio-Hermes-002, an obser- vational biomarker study that is comparing blood-based and digital biomarkers that may help predict, diagnose, and de- tect Alzheimer’s disease.
One of the study’s most important hallmarks is its com- mitment to ensuring that at least 25 percent of the study vol- unteers are from traditionally underrepresented communi- ties. This includes people who are Black, African American, Hispanic, Latinos, women, and those living in rural areas. Considering that most participation rates of diversity for clinical trials top out at one to three percent, this study pri- oritizes the need for research to better represent all who are impacted by Alzheimer’s. The only way to do this is by hav- ing a strong and diverse representation in the clinical trials, which was proven to be possible in Bio-Hermes.
The entities that play a part in Bio-Hermes-002 under- stand the value of this achievement and now are hoping to build on the results to one day detect Alzheimer’s disease earlier, faster, and in a less expensive manner, ensuring that the people who disproportionately develop it have access to tests, and care and treatment.
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HCMA BULLETIN, Vol 70, No. 2 – Fall 2024
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